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Herman Cain super PAC mulls money

Officials at the Arlington, Va.-based 9-9-9 Fund have been consulting with their backers. | AP Photo

“There’s still some concern about Gingrich’s pas flip-flops on issues,” Goodwin said. “Ron Paul — he’s one candidate, because of his positions on foreign policy, that makes conservatives uneasy. Romney? I see him as an acceptable Republican nominee, but we are concerned with his flip-flops, too.”

Goodwin acknowledged that fundraising “dropped off” in the week before Cain quit, and the Beat Obama Political Action Committee has suspended active fundraising efforts until it crystalizes its new tack, which it expects to do within a week.

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Meanwhile, the Gingrich camp is aggressively pursuing both the cash and sweat equity of Cain supporters.

Ralph Davis, who runs a commercial construction company in Georgia and has this year donated nearly $2,500 to Cain, says that if he had to make a choice, “I’d probably go with Newt now, but I’m looking at everyone. I think the majority of Cain’s supporters will look to Newt.”

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.), who endorsed Gingrich this weekend, says “it’s like ants following the sugar trail here — the excitement is building, and there’s been tremendous involvement with the Cain people since the weekend.”

Smith says he’s unaware of Gingrich backers forming their own super PAC, which are formally known as independent expenditure-only committees and are barred from directly coordinating with candidates.

The advent of a Gingrich super PAC, be it a new entity or the repurposing of a Cain committee, “would be a positive thing. It could really help get the message out,” Smith said from Manchester, N.H., where he’s now helping organize Gingrich’s New Hampshire ground game.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened,” he added of a Gingrich super PAC. “The only danger with those kind of groups is that they can mean well but get off-message.”

Gingrich’s lack of super PAC backing puts him in the minority among prominent GOP presidential candidates, most of whom enjoy, or have enjoyed, super PAC support.

The Huntsman-backing Our Destiny PAC has spent about $1.5 million to date with much of its funding coming from Huntsman’s father. Make Us Great Again, a Rick Perry-supporting super PAC, has dropped about $900,000 to tout the Texas governor. The Keep Conservatives United super PAC supports Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) while the Revolution PAC touts Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Even former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, barely a blip in presidential polls, has former campaign adviser Kelly Casaday running a pro-Johnson Freedom and Liberty PAC.

Then there’s Restore Our Future, started by Romney aides, which raised more than $12.23 million during the year’s first six months. It faced criticism that it took money from a corporation, W Spann LLC, that appeared to be established for no other reason than to donate political cash while occluding the names of the people behind the corporation, which disbanded this summer.

His campaign may be over, but the public sentiment that put him near the top isn't going away. Three lessons both politicians AND businesses should take away from Herman Cain's campaign on my blog at http://www.jasongriffin.net/bl...